The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine

Chapter 30 - Alex - Tea While Stopping Time

The crowd to be staring off into the distance at the thunderbolts. And then I realized, they weren't even breathing. They were frozen. Mars blinked, and he was Ares the next second.

"Oh Alexandra," Ares said, "you still remain the same." He sighed loudly.

I scowled. I gripped the trident harder. "What have you done?"

"Nothing. It's normal," Ares said. "That's what happens when your mind goes out of the deal. You're not ready to tell them just yet."

"Tell them what?" I asked.

Ares laughed. "Oh, sister. When have you ever not lived in your dreams? Look at yourself."

I felt myself go red. I looked down at myself. I was not myself anymore. I was different. Good different. Instead of a purple shirt and a leather armor, I was wearing a totally different looking armor with leather belts hanging around my waist.

The gold breastplate reflected the moonlight, and, the blue details whispered of the days of gods and the war between the First Olympians and the Titans.

Netted steel hung in over my arms as sleeves, and blue bronze plates shone at my elbows and upper arms. Daggers of all size hung from the belts. The purple pendant on my neck shone brighter than ever.

"You dream to find peace for these people," said Ares, "but you carry weapons yourself."

"That's different, Ares," I said, and realized that my own voice was different. "You want to pillage and kill. I want to protect and nurture. Both require weapons. It depends on when we use them."

"Always the philosopher," Ares said. The look on his face softened after a moment. He stepped forward, and patted my shoulder, as though about to give me a hug. "And yet, you have helped me so many times, that I can't quite get the heart to fight you."

I stared, dumbfounded.

"You must remember the deal," he said. "Remember, you need to wait until you reveal your true self to them."

"How will I know when to reveal it?" I asked like a child. I felt my new armor disappear into darkness as the purple shirt and leather armor appeared.

"When you remember it all, you'll know that it's time," he said, smiling this time. "For now, those memories slumber in you." He was turning back to Mars. "They will wake, and when they do, you will lead them."

Thunder growled over the sky. Lightning flashed, and the heads turned around, and the crowd stared at Mars as though nothing had happened. I knelt to the ground, but did not look away from his eyes, and his bored into mine. Then he turned away.

Mars scanned the crowd. "Romans, lend me your ears!" He laughed—a good, hearty bellow, so infectious it almost made everyone smile. "I've always wanted to say that. I come from Olympus with a message. Jupiter doesn't like us communicating directly with mortals, especially nowadays, but he has allowed this exception, as you Romans have always been my special people. I'm only permitted to speak for a few minutes, so listen up."

He pointed at Gwen. "This one should be dead, yet she's not. The monsters you fight no longer return to Tartarus when they are slain. Some mortals who died long ago are now walking the earth again."

"Thanatos has been chained," Mars announced. "The Doors of Death have been forced open, and no one is policing them—at least, not impartially. Gaea allows our enemies to pour forth into the world of mortals. Her sons the giants are mustering armies against you—armies that you will not be able to kill. Unless Death is unleashed to return to his duties, you will be overrun. You must find Thanatos and free him from the giants. Only he can reverse the tide."